Mass Effect 2 hits DICE jackpot

LAS VEGAS--Thursday has by far been the most eventful day for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' 2011 DICE Summit, and it has already seen panels from the likes of Jade Raymond, Richard Garriott, and the BioWare doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, as well as a number of other high-profile industry notables. However, the crowning jewel of the day is still to come, with the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. PT tonight.

It seems likely John Marston will have a few new trophies to add to his mantle after tonight.

The leading contender this year is Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption, which has already taken home a number of industry awards, including GameSpot's Game of the Year. However, Rockstar's Western has stiff competition in all of the nine categories it is competing in, from the likes of Namco Bandai's Enslaved and Sony's God of War III, each of which has earned six nominations.

Both Red Dead Redemption and God of War III, but not Enslaved, are up for the AIAS's coveted Game of the Year award. Other nominees for the top honor include Treyarch's best-selling Call of Duty: Black Ops, BioWare's sci-fi role-playing game Mass Effect 2, and the breakout iPad gaming hit Angry Birds HD.

A number of industry luminaries are also slated to receive accolades tonight. Muzyka and Zeschuk will both be inducted into the AIAS's Hall of Fame, while former EA star and current venture capitalist Bing Gordon will be bestowed with a Lifetime Achievement award. Bill Budge will walk away from the evening with the organization's second annual Pioneer Award.

Industry-staple funnyman Jay Mohr is on hand to host tonight's event, which will be going down at the Red Rock Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for GameSpot's liveblog to receive updates on awards as they happen. And who knows, perhaps the evening will end with a game reveal, as it (sort of) did last year.

[7:42] The 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards is about to begin, as the assembled industry collective dab their mouths after a meal furnished by the AIAS.

[7:42] Designers have turned out in the nines, largely, as business casual meets jeans, stylish shirts, and gym shoes.

[8:27] People are apparently happy about the show, according to folks on Twitter. "Usually, these tell me what an a****** I am," Mohr says.

[8:27] To present the award for Family Game of the Year, they picked--aptly?--Randy Pitchford, CEO of Duke Nukem Forever publisher Gearbox.

[8:28] Those who know me best know I'm a huge family man, Pitchford says. The only thing he enjoys more are all his attempts to create them.

[8:28] Guess Mohr isn't the only comedian here tonight.

[8:28] Family Game of the Year nominees are: Dance Central, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Rock Band 3, and Singstar Dance.

[8:28] And the award goes to…Dance Central, from Harmonix.

[8:29] Alex Rigopulos takes the stage, saying that the team was dying to make this game, because people are seldom happier than when they're dancing.

[8:29] Mohr retakes the stage and introduces the man who will present the Racing Game of the Year, Don Mattrick.

[8:29] Racing Game of the Year nominees: Gran Turismo 5, ModNation Racers, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and Split/Second.

[8:29] And the winner is…Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, developed by Burnout studio Criterion.

[8:30] It's now time to present Bill Budge with his Pioneer Award, the second that the AIAS has handed out. Don Daglow presents.

[8:31] It's been 30 years since Bill Budge burst on the screen, he says. It was the time of Atari and consoles, but it was also the world of Apple II computers.

[8:32] Into that era came Bill Budge, where programmers hand-placed pixels. When Bill came with Raster Blaster, he changed everything. He made it easier for developers first, and then with Pinball Construction Set, he gave that power to the players.

[8:32] After the crash of the console market, people still had Budge's games on PCs, which were being bought by parents for their kids' homework.

[8:32] He inspired a generation of designers to not give up.

[8:33] This quiet, humble guy built the foundation that we all get to enjoy today, he says.

[8:36] A highlight reel of Budge's career unspools, with industry luminaries that include Will Wright extolling the man's contributions.

[8:36] Budge takes the stage to a standing ovation from the room.

[8:37] "I love working at Google, but it's funny, because all they talk about is the games they want to program."

[8:38] He says it's amazing to look at his old games and how primitive they look compared to what people are making now.

[8:39] Budge exits, Mohr enters.

[8:39] The president of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, Martin Rae, takes the stage.

[8:40] He is here to detail the voting process that went into these awards.

[8:40] The voting process defines us, he says. The process is driven by game creators, and winners are honored by their peers, he says.

[8:40] The panel votes to come up with a list of finalists, and then that list is sent to some 20,000 members to hone down.

@MEDzZ3RO
I agree and understand what you are saying about games that have already been released being relevant. They are relevant but not to this debate. I just meant that they are irrelevant because this was the GOTY 2010 awards. I was just making the point that comparing ME2 with games that didn't release in 2010 is irrelevant given the context in which you are using them. For the GOTY 2010 award ME2 was being compared against the games of 2010 to be named GOTY. It wasn't being compared to games that came before it, that is why your comparisons are irrelevant. Comparing ME2 to games that weren't eligible for this award is both unfair and a waste of time. ME2 might not have been the most original (in your opinion) game of all time but according to the GOTY 2010 awards it is the best game of 2010. This wasn't the "best game of all time" award. Thus comparing ME2 games that weren't released in 2010 is irrelevant. Bottom line ME2 wasn't competing against them so they shouldn't have been included in the debate. It doesn't matter what the other games did better ( in your opinion) they weren't up for the award. Oh and one other thing, I was saying that BBC 2 is a "rip-off" of modern CoDs. By going on to say that every game has to "rip-off" past games in the genre or else there would be no innovation you are merely proving the point I was going to make anyway. I didn't have room with my last comment though.
@Creed02
You seem to have little to no education. You are an idiot. Mass Effect 2 doesn't need stupid people defending it. People like you just make things worse.

@Creed02
No anger, I've got all the time in the world whilst I have no work. Don't have the burden of worrying about me on your shoulders. It kills time whilst I have noting to do :).
You cannot say "I can feel your anger now" either. You're both senile and dyslexic; an unfortunate combination.
One subject: Mass Effect 2 not living up to the hype including it not being a great RPG or TPS separately. Instead of defending the argument you keep claiming I'm angry and that I'm making a hypothesis; where's the theory or phenomenon?
There's only so many points I can raise when such points are not being defended or counted by yourself but instead are going around in a circle. If you notice you've raised all the separate points whilst I've merely responded to them no matter how off subject. My attempts to put it back on subject to have an intelligent debate are negated when you choose to change the subject once again.
You're crumbling the more this debate goes on, making more and more mistakes and less and less factual points whilst happily going back on your own words. Your boss has got to be a very patient person. Nice one.

@MEDzZ3RO
hahahahah
i can feel your anger now,
i was damn sure that you will fail to understand my status,
well for your info, in my previous post i wrote "on this subject" but did i specify which subject ? because right now we are arguing on two subjects.
1st is ME 2nd is your own created hypothesis
and its really fun to watch that how far can you go with your own creation.
so Yeah keep on rolling and keep me entertaining.
and i am glad that NO.2 is really working for you :D

@Creed02
Are you senile?, you've already sent that message and you said you weren't interested in replying. Don't go back on your own words just for my sake because this demonstrates your opinion is subject to change dependant upon the circumstances; that doesn't wash with any High Court Judge so why should it here?
For someone who works you sure have an amazing amount of spare time on your hands. Also what's that use of "offered", that doesn't make sense at all and cannot possibly be a typo. 1/ My "idea" is an opinion (for the 100th time) which I'm entitled to have.
2/I never had "arguments" as I only ever had one opinion on the subject, which was that Mass Effect 2 isn't up to the hype.
3/I don't need to expand upon the idea when everyones opinion varies so I'd only be blowing my own horn for no necessary reason. What points do you think you've proven because so far it's just been your personal opinion regardless of how much you deny it.
"Glad to see number one seems furthest from your mind", i.e: freedom of speech and personal opinion.

@MEDzZ3RO
I can argue to your points one by one as i did before,
but this time i realized that i was arguing the points which doesn't offered any standards.
So from now, you can do one of three things:
1. Admit your idea doesn't pass logical scrutiny and move on to other discussions.
2. Continue defending with arguments, as you grow more and more divorced from reason.
3. Type meaningless statements, like, "I don't need to expand upon ideas...".
Glad to see number one seems to be the furthest from your mind.
Good Bye.

@Creed02
Lastly, you've still not used capital letters and have begun sentences with "and"; if you want someone to take your opinion seriously you really should make more effort.... much like you would for a letter of intent. Mistakes and typos are bound to happen but things like that are basic schoolboy errors you should have avoided.
You entered into this discussion and now you're choosing to bail out early? There's an old saying, "don't start what you cannot finish".

@Creed02
Again, ME2 wasn't superbly delivered when compared to its predecessor or most triple a RPGs; it's far too linear. Mass Effect 2 having better TPS mechanics then Dead Space 2, Gears Of War and Uncharted 2?; right oh.... I feel detached from Mass Effect 2s action whilst in all the TPS games I mentioned you feel in the thick of it. Only bit of satisfaction I got from shooting in Mass Effect 2 was using the sniper.
That's not pointing my finger (which you said I did); I didn't accuse you or anyone else of anything; that's pointing the finger.
You never made a point. Your whole argument has been yourself trying to convince me that Mass Effect 2 is a game worthy of last years GOTY and the title RPG. You never raised any points of proof but rather decided to state things you thought yourself as fact.
You come across as a heavy Mass Effect enthusiast and biased; unable to see the flaws in the game. You've claimed as an RPG it's better then Dragon Age and Fallout and as a TPS it's better then Uncharted 2; that's ludicrous when each game has been praised by so many in the'r respective genre. As a package Mass Effect 2 isn't bad but it's components in areas aren't as strong as they are in other games.
You cannot prove a point by saying "ME2 speaks for itself", there's no evidence here.

@MEDzZ3RO
Again ,as an RPG ME2 is small step down(not huge) from its predecessor that's what i meant.and that doesn't effect game because RPG/TPS combination delivered superbly according to character races and story. so as an RPG it's Great not
--- Farewell & enjoy gaming

@Creed02
He bought a newer one early this year for when we travel..etc... It's a laptop. I'll ask him because I'm not going to lie PC specs are not my forte. I believe your DS2 running figures though, PCs surpise me at what they can run with "old tech".

@Creed02
I didn't once point my finger towards anything. Care to quote where?
Haven't once been "steamed up" during our discussions because it's not a subject I feel passionately enough about.
Mass Effect 2 is indeed a step-down from the original and that for me already rates it down in my books; yet amazingly the original received less praise then the sequel because CoD 4 and Bioshock took most of the praise that year.
I've said time and time again as you just have, it is indeed my personal opinion I've never denied that; yourself however have not admitted most of the things you've stated in a factual manner is an opinion.
You know aswell as I do that I said Mass Effect 2 was rubbish to get on your wit (note I wrote "just for you"); it worked apparently.
I compare Mass Effect 2 with TPS games because as far as I'm concerned that's closer to what it actually is. Best in the genre is Uncharted 2, MGS4, Gears Of War and Vanquish; it'd be an insult to not compare a game of Mass Effects caliber with the best. Bioware can indeed make fine RPGs, as I said; I regard Dragon Age as one of the best. Also as far as Mass Effect goes there isn't another RPG/TPS game I can think of so I have to compare it with the 2 genres individually. The methodology seems fair enough to me.

@MEDzZ3RO
when did your bro buy his PC ?
did he choose wisely ?
because as i said before i have nearly 3 year old GPU 9800 GT + AMD P2 Q.core 920 and i can max out many of games even today including DS2[High , res.1680x1050,Getting over 100 FPS]. if you don't believe than just use youtube.
and can play heavy games on high @ minimum 25-30 FPS .
and as for now i recommend following spec for decent/budget gaming.
AMD Phenom II X4 955 - $ 140
ASUS M4A785-M Motherboard - $ 75
2 GB Ram - $ 25
HDD 500 GB - $ 40
500 watt psu - $ 40
XFX HD 5850 - $ 170
Casing - $ 50
K/b , Mouse - $ 30
TOTAL - $ 570 = £ 353
guarantee it will beat both consoles until 7th generation ends and plus it will max out most of games for nearly 2 Years.

@MEDzZ3RO
"bioware can make good RPGs?"
according to their record they have made many greatest RPG's till now.
and once again in my opinion Mass effect 2 Beats all your mentioned TPS except MSG4 because its very different game by its story. And my last qus. is how can you compare all those TPS with ME? specially with U2.
Before answering understand what i am saying "Gameplay define by game's story"
it's worth not to compare with those games which doesn't offer similarities in stories like you can compare Tomb raider with U2 but can't with mass effect,RDR with GTA but can't with mass effect.

@MEDzZ3RO
well yes i agree that i made grammatical mistakes because and tired from this discussion so i didn't think that much.
and about win/lose right/wrong ,i don't have to speak because majority has already spoken as i said before, i was only convincing & later explaining to you that you can't point your finger at something if you don't have enough points to prove.
[PS:you also stated that i was stalking on you but what will i get by doing it ? Ans.-nothing]
and i never argued with ME2's genre on RPG/TPS matter,
but I can only argue that ME2 as an RPG isn't weak but it's downgraded from its predecessor that's what's plenty of enthusiast are saying and i completely disagree with you for "as TPS it's light"
because it's your personal opinion and doesn't prove much more, and i think maybe PS3 version of this game failed to meet your satisfaction(by playing with controller) or maybe i dont know but the only thing that bothered me is
when first you stated that "ME2 is not a bad game" & gave your arguments
but when i defended with reasonable points , you immediately changed your status to "RUBBISH" in your further post without answering my points.(PS:don't try to ans. my points in your further post because it's too late now.)and this clearly indicate how steamed up you were.
and about the conspiracy qus. which i put as an example to explain but you took it very sensitively and recreated in your own way which doesn't get us any where.

@Creed02
As for the PCvsConsole debate; your final statement was "you can buy PCs capable of matching the consoles for the same price as a console". That's £149 for an Xbox 360 and £195 for a PS3. Where on earth have you found a PC capable of running most current gen games on medium settings or above (on par with consoles) at that price?. You need to invest atleast £500 for a decent gaming rig; I should know my brother's an out and out PC gamer. At that price you're going to get a budget PC with graphics cards that were out of date years ago not capable of running the most basic of games even on low settings. That my friend is an issue not subjective to opinion but is out and out fact.

@Creed02
Surely when you make a closure that's supposed to be the end of a statement?
You seem obcessed with this whole right and wrong, win and loss thing throughout. Opinions are never wrong or right because it varies on the individual. You can't mock one for that. Unique?; the majority of people are right up Biowares backside (so to speak) for the Mass Effect series for as far as I can tell no reason at all. I'm one of the few that doesn't get sucked in by the hype.
As an RPG plenty of RPG enthusiast agree that it is a very light RPG. As a TPS it is also a light TPS. It attempts 2 genres and doesn't pull either off brilliantly. Just compare it to Dead Space 2, Metal Gears Solid 4 or Dragon Age origins (Bioware can make good RPGs) and Fallout 3 in both respective genres. Mass Effect 2 doesn't compare. This has been my issue throughout and I haven't strayed from it like you have because there is no "winning or losing" in an argument subject to preferances or taste.
Again, I'm not "steamed up"; I'm fine you really should stop trying to put words into my mouth.
P.S: You state I'm juvenile but you're "lol-ing", lack of capital letters, making alot of typos to the extent a few sentences aren't understandable "valid points that can believable", "where you continue to loosing but still argue with nonsenses"; that phrase is utter "nonsense". As is your debate on trying to prove to me that I should like Mass Effect 2. Everybody makes mistakes but some of your sentences just look like you're doing it on purpose.

@MEDzZ3RO
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
You suggested I'm the conspiracist yet you do not trust I have played the games I've stated I have because you disagree with my experience and opinion.
[/QUOTE]
Yes i disagree with your opinions because your hypothesis contains zero evidence to knock down ME2.
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
I disagree with Mass Effect 2 receiving so much praise for a game I felt was a lackluster RPG and a mediocre TPS (I'm entitled to my own opinion).
[/QUOTE]
Any actual points here which can prove you right ? Nope.
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
Everyone has a different experience with any multimedia form or art. That's what makes everyone unique
[/QUOTE]
yes,because right now i can see that how your hypothesis with zero additional point made you unique . :D
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
Few hundred years ago ever.....
[/QUOTE]
Exactly, they proved their statements with strong theory and well about you - don't have any idea for what to say, gives clueless opinions, continue to expanding arguments even they proved false.

@MEDzZ3RO
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
I've completed RDR. It is as ....
[/QUOTE]
Yes its not major part of the game and that's why it leads to different endings & situations ?
by the way you compared both stories,you seemed less mature enough to understand it.
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
You brought up the qu......
[/QUOTE]
I said what your status meant not what you said. when all majority speaks with enough acceptable evidence than you have to accept it until you have enough proof to prove it wrong.
yes,outside can't be 100 % sure but the subject i argued contains valid points that can believable.
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
I haven't got an arg.....
[/QUOTE]
i accept that,but i didn't accept yours on this subject because you have no idea what you are saying and expanding your hypothesis which looks lame and kinda childish.
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
I never said "ever......
[/QUOTE]
Oh my God on this subject i was actually going by the sales not the reviews.
now understand "Every year COD break sales record & people buy it because they like it and you are saying that sales don't make good games than why people keep buying COD ? It also has same cons as MOH !" .
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
"Your personal opinion which......
[/QUOTE]
i have never tried to make an assumptions upon things that you've never said,i have only said what your status meant.understand it carefully before posting something and again you have no idea what you are saying.

@Creed02
"Lets sum up":
I don't need to expand upon ideas that I'm justified in letting it stand alone where expanding upon the idea isn't necessary.
You suggested I'm the conspiracist yet you do not trust I have played the games I've stated I have because you disagree with my experience and opinion.
I disagree with Mass Effect 2 receiving so much praise for a game I felt was a lackluster RPG and a mediocre TPS (I'm entitled to my own opinion). Everyone has a different experience with any multimedia form or art. That's what makes everyone unique; you cannot try to make everyone agree with what you consider true. Few hundred years ago everyone was adament the earth was flat, that was considered fact however years later experts say otherwise and we have to take their word for it. Who's to say they won't say otherwise in the future?. The whole point of me mentioning this is for 2 things: 1: to expand upon ideas you seem to crave? and 2: to demonstrate that both fact and opinion are intertwined but fact is an opinion that is more globally accepted then another however it is subject to change.
THAT'S IT. Your whole argument has been based around that which is subject to opinion which is something you can accept or lump it.
Just for you: Mass Effect 2's rubbish in my opinion :D You cannot prove fact or things subject to opinion, you'd do well to learn that. Good day.

@Creed02
I've completed RDR. It is as you said "GTA with horses"; the core gameplay is near unchanged. Follow map to next objective filled with NPCs offering new jobs in a separate location; as you progress through the game you unlock a new area. Sounds like GTA to me. It's just a new skin with a handful of modifications. In RDR there is little choice to be a good or a bad guy, it really isn't a major part of the game like it is in Infamous for instance.
You brought up the question of a conspiracy not me. I didn't say I didn't trust them, you said that. I merely said nobody on the outside can be 100% sure of any source, if you're that trusting of everything then more fool you.
I haven't got an argument to make as I said we're all entitled to our own opinions you just can't accept that. On top of that you seem to of been stalking me for the past few weeks now commenting on everything I post?
I never said "everyone who buys CoD is dumb", I said sales don't make a good game. Look how many underground games have had modest sales but have had superb reviews (you like going by the reviewer so I'm using your formula).
I don't have to prove opinion because it's not identical for everyone. If I was bothered by the subject I would expand on my ideas but I'm not.
"Your personal opinion which you can never prove to other but to your self" (*yourself*), you seem to ignore your own statement, confusing opinion with fact; note I've always said "I feel" or "for me" for every statement I've made. You choose not to and state things subject to opinion as fact and try to make assumptions upon things I've never said.

@MEDzZ3RO
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
take reviews with a pinch of salt, everyones opinion is different.
[/QUOTE]
MY POINT IS : LOOK AT YOUR THREADS , HAVE YOU PROVEN YOUR STATEMENT ? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ARE SAYING ? EVER PLAYED AN RPG GAME ?
Lets look at SOME
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
1.Conspiracy?,who knows? nobody can say whilst the reviews come from reliable sources.
2.never felt the "emotional impact" other people have said - you have said, have you proven ?
3.Having played ME 2 - Completed ? (PS: you haven't even played)
4.choices we've already made in Fallout - any connections here ?
5.story we've pretty much seen in most sci-fi films - EXPLAIN
[/QUOTE]
after challenged to your points, you just restated your hypothesis with zero additional arguments or evidence. That doesn't get us anywhere, other than demonstrating that you don't know how to defend an argument.
In detail by seeing your Gplay comparison with other TPS also doesn't indicate necessarily connection between mass effect to them except a bit with GOW & TPS genre and as per your argument with lewishim666 clearly states that you have no ideas what you are saying,more than that you are absurdly defending your hypothesis by "THERE'S CONSPIRACY" with zero evidence. this clearly states that you haven't played ME2 and defined your self as HATER.
AND about your personal opinion which you can never prove to other but to your self, don't refine it as " everyones opinion is different " because its so meaning less to argue.

@MEDzZ3RO
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
RDR is GTA with horses but it had a stronger story and was different enough to not feel like a GTA 4 cash-in.
[/QUOTE]
and now i am thinking you haven't played RDR either because you have no clue what you are saying.
here's similarity :-
Both Morston & bellic are men with dark, violent pasts who claim they want nothing more than to put all that behind them, but keep getting dragged back into it by everyone else.
different than GTA IV & had a stronger story ? : No, but Yes in Story TELLING WAY.
Do you know what's the difference between both ? :
its the Redemption vs Crime :-
In GTA IV you only have a single (criminal) path to follow while in RDR you can choose your own path to be a good guy or a bad guy and the funny thing is its slightly similar to mass effect.
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
Conspiracy?, who knows?; nobody can say whilst the reviews come from reliable sources.
[/QUOTE]
If you don't trust this site & reviewers than what's your point to join gamespot ? i assure gamespot didn't force you to join ? or maybe you are here to see how bigger conspiracy is ?
[QUOTE="MEDzZ3RO"]
Sales don't make a good game. It shouldn't effect reviews.
[/QUOTE]
Every year COD break sales records and basically what you meant was people are dumb for buying COD games which don't worth their money.

@Creed02
Sales don't make a good game. It shouldn't effect reviews. RDR is GTA with horses but it had a stronger story and was different enough to not feel like a GTA 4 cash-in.
Conspiracy?, who knows?; nobody can say whilst the reviews come from reliable sources.
As I said take reviews with a pinch of salt, everyones opinion is different. I don't like Mass Effect 2 enough to buy the original yet. If I see it cheap I might. As it stands I wasn't blown away by the game but was by the hype for it.

@MEDzZ3RO
COD never gets bad reviews because it sold widely compare to other games while mass effect is different genre and the first ME was exclusive and later it came to PC.
it didn't sell that much and it didnt outsell even RDR. and about the reviews some people hate RDR by saying its just GTA with horse , boring....... so does that mean that there's conspiracy behind all great reviews ?
and quite simply the comparison between Mass effect and COD is absurd.
as i said before do loyalty missions and be patient you will slowly attracted to your crew and thats the best part of the game if you can't get it done than they are good as dead or like you have said "ROBOTIC".
and my another point is you can't get the feeling because you haven't played ME1, Trust me if possible than play ME1 and i assure you will be surprised. mass effect 2 is an RPG.
and here's the evidence that can convince you:
"http://www.destructoid.com/review-mass-effect-2-161584.phtml" PS: haters gonna hate no matter what & i don't care about them either but you are not one of them , so i think you should at least give 2nd try to mass effect .

@Creed02
I love the RPG genre but Mass Effect is a poor attemp at an RPG. It's a TPS with a few RPG elements. Them being "robotic" or not is subject to opinion and not something either one of us can justify.Story-wise I never said it was bad I just never felt the "emotional impact" other people have said it had.
It was never a bad game, I've never said that I just feel it wasn't the best this year had to offer (again, personal preferance we are all justified to have). Reviews can be taken with a pinch of salt, how many times have reviewers had it so wrong, especially this generation. The majority of the public have said otherwise.
For instance why does CoD never have a bad review yet all the flaws in CoD are picked upon in other games in the genre. Medal Of Honor is a good example of this. Both have terrible AI, short campaigns, mediocre story and linear level design but these flaws are ignored as far as CoD is concerned.

@MEDzZ3RO
dude again you have no idea what you are saying,
whether you are not concentrating the game or you are not interested in RPG genre.
and i think you havent played RPG game before so i assume you to go back and finish the game patiently and if possible than play ME1 also.
heavy rain is all about between love of father - son while main plot of ME is saving galaxy.
bioware tremendously adjusted the limit of emotion because it must not look over hyped with its main plot but more ambitious.
about ME2 characters whom you mentioned as "ROBOTIC" are not.
They all hold their unique story and standard through out game which makes ME2 special.
first you need to understand the game's main plot because ME2 has more than 15 stories in it and they are ambitious/emotionally in certain way. about the emotion, all of your crew members are going to save the galaxy so its not good to add their personal emotion with it because they always break you (AS JACOB MENTIONED DURING GAME ) but throughout their loyalty missions you will feel them as emotionally (specially with TALI & THANE & at the climax of overlord dlc) .
ME2 is RPG but beats its predecessor in TPS.
i could give you a thousand reasons what other people always use to say like " this game has received over 30 perfect reviews , won over more than 10 GOTY from diff. sites" but what i said is what i feel during the game.
and if you are not a hater than don't let your words define it like you have said " what the fuss is about ?"

@lewishim666
Battlefield isn't a "rip-off" of CoD. The original came out a year before CoD. Also every game in any genre has elements from a game before it, it's not "ripping-off", if they didn't "rip" each other off genres wouldn't evolve. There's only so much innovation anyone can have that somebody else hasn't already done.
The FPS genre for instance, every modern fps has technically "ripped off" Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake and Goldeneye007 including Halo. I don't see how that's a bad thing?, look how the first person shooter has evolved over the last 25 years; Wolfenstein and Killzone 3, Bad Company 2 and Reach are worlds apart.

@lewishim666
Games already out are just as relevant as games of today and the future; their gameplay mechanics don't change year on year but can still hold there own against modern games. Doom and Quake came out years ago but on your logic because they did they are completely irrelevant in the fps genre?
Games don't need originality to be good (something Mass Effect also lacks), they just need to fine tune every part of the game; MGS4 brought nothing really new to the tables but it did everything so well it was greatly received. The choices offer little choice in the matter, they are very simplistic choices that doesn't really make you feel more a part of the game. I never said Bethesda came up with the idea (you implied that's what I meant), I merely said it's not the innovation people keep going on about because it's not unique. As for the characters; I cared more for what happened to the characters in Heavy Rain then I did for any of the Mass Effect characters; the Mass Effect characters lack real emotion and seen rather robotic.
Don't for a second think I thought Mass Effect 2 is a bad game, I just felt it didn't know what it wanted to be;,a TPS or RPG; it's just sort of ended up a mixture without doing either genre that well. In my opinion, as an RPG it's very weak, as a TPS it's better but isn't up on a gameplay level with the TPS games I mentioned.
P.S: You can't state things subjective to opinion as fact; like you have been.

@ MEDzZ3RO
I don't remember killing the Rachni queen or saving a collector base in Fallout. I don't remember Uncharted 2 or Gears of War or whatever else having Biotics.
Oh, and Assassins Creed, more like Assassins BORING! You wanna talk about story? That game was the most boring cliched let down I have played this generation.

@MEDzZ3RO
Mass Effect 2 is every bit as good as people give it credit for. All the fuss is about some of the best character development in any game that came out this year. This is the Game of the YEAR award. Not best game of the the last 5 years. So your comparison to any game that didn't come out this year is irrelevant. The game play in Mass Effect 2 is every bit as good if not better then the games you mentioned. Gears of War, Dead space 2, and Uncharted 2 didn't even come out in 2010 so I won't even mention them further because they are irrelevant.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood the only game in the same league as ME2 none of the other games have added as much and changed as much as AC:B. AC:B and ME2 are the only games you mention that actually made significant changes over there counterparts.
The rest of the games nominated are just slight adjustments to the formula of there predecessors. Only ME2 and AC:B added and changed anything of significance over there predecessors. None of them were as original either besides Heavy Rain but Heavy Rain was just barely even a game. It was one long GTE. You obviously didn't finish ME2 because you have no clue what you are talking about because the choices are nothing like fallout and they go back way further then fallout. The choices in ME2 obviously come from ME which came out before fallout 3 they aren't just choices. There are good and evil actions and weather or not you get to use these options are based on how good or evil you are and how good your conversation skills are. The choices are done like no other game has done before. Different options unlock depending on your previous actions and how you've been playing the game. To just say the are choices is a narrow view of the conversation system and it proves you haven't really played ME2 all the way through. Bioware has been doing choices since 1998. Yet again though your comparisons to any games not in 2010 are irrelevant and it shows you don't know what your talking about.

Having played Mass Effect 2 I still don't see what the fuss is about; choices we've already made in Fallout, story we've pretty much seen in most sci-fi films and gameplay that doesn't rival Uncharted 2, Dead Space 2, Vanquish or Gears Of War and linear level design that almost rivals Call Of Duty in this field.
Don't get me wrong it's a good game but not as good as the other nominees. God Of War 3, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Heavy Rain, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Red Dead Redemption would of been more worthy winners.

I enjoyed RDR quite a bit, but the story was completely mediocre. If you're going to make a movie or continue the stories between ME or RDR, it's an obvious choice. Of course how much will ME cost $200 mil to make it look good that's for sure. Of course you could always get the guys that made "District 9" to make it. They made that for $30 mil & it looked like it cost at least triple that minimum. I'm always tired of one game or one movie winning all the awards. It seems people get hung up on one, & just vote for it in everything. The story of "Alan Wake" wasn't particularly great, but the art direction was brilliant to say the least. It would have done better had the story been better & maybe a few tweaks on the control scheme too.